


discovery.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: captured moments. [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Breakfast, F/M, Family, One Shot Collection, Professor Ben Solo, Short One Shot, Waiters & Waitresses, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Ben ran his hands over his face and sighed.  He knew that he had to tell his mother sooner rather than later, especially since he had no idea where to take Rey on Friday, but he hadn't wanted to do it in the middle of the café.Yet he was now left with no other choice.“If you must know,” he started, “I have a date on Friday night.”or:  Ben goes into the café for breakfast, finds his mother and grandmother in there, and wishes that he didn't have to tell them about his date with Rey.  Leia and Padmé decide to be helpful.  Ben wishes they wouldn't.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: captured moments. [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602691
Comments: 10
Kudos: 98





	discovery.

**Author's Note:**

> and here with are with some more. 
> 
> and as always, if you like what you read here, please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know that I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

Ben was terrified.

That had been his overriding thought ever since he'd asked Rey out and she'd said yes. It was ridiculous and he knew it. Things like this were what normal people did. They went on dates. They had conversations with people. They let themselves be close to others.

But Ben hadn't done any of that for years. The fact that he had stayed close to Poe confused him on the best of days because he had a friend when he'd tried his hardest not to have any at all. He knew that was ridiculous too. Friends were part of being normal.

But Ben was not normal and he knew that was going to ruin things with Rey before they even began.

When he walked into the café on Wednesday morning, he almost immediately turned around and left. But Rey spotted him before he could, and after she called out his name, the two women whose table she was at looked over at him and grinned.

“Ben! How wonderful!” Leia exclaimed. “Come sit with us!”

Ben swallowed hard and walked over to the table, pulling out a chair and forcing a smile. “Mama. Grandma.”

“Do you want coffee and water like usual, Ben?” Rey asked, and Ben hadn't even realized she was still standing there.

“That would be great,” he said, letting his forced smile morph into a real one. 

Rey seemed to always elicit that smile from him. That could become a problem. But Rey smiled back and Ben felt like all was right in the world. That could become a problem too.

“Then I'll be right back,” Rey said before walking away.

Ben turned his attention back to Leia, and he just knew what was about to come out of her mouth. “Stop.”

“All I was going to say is that she seems nice,” Leia said, faking innocence. “You obviously seem to think so if that smile is anything to go by.”

“And that's a good thing,” Padmé said. “It's been a long time since you've smiled at someone like that.”

Ben sighed heavily as Rey came back with his drinks and the smile was back on his face before he could stop it from coming. “Thanks, Rey.”

“No problem, Ben,” Rey said, grabbing her order book. “Does everyone know what they want to order?”

She got their orders and then collected the menus Leia and Padmé had. “Food will be out soon.”

“Thank you,” Leia said, and as soon as Rey was gone, she turned her attention to Ben. “You know her name.”

“Of course I do. I'm a regular.”

“Ben, honestly,” Leia said, shaking her head. “At some point in time, you're going to have to acknowledge the fact that you need to find a wife.”

“Let's hold off on the wife talk, Leia,” Padmé said. “I'd settle for a long relationship at this point. Hell, any relationship at all.”

Ben ran his hands over his face and sighed. He knew that he had to tell his mother sooner rather than later, especially since he had no idea where to take Rey on Friday, but he hadn't wanted to do it in the middle of the café.

Yet he was now left with no other choice.

“If you must know,” he started, “I have a date on Friday night.”

Ben watched as both their eyes lit up and he knew he was about to face a barrage of questions, and that once Leia found out that his date was with Rey, she was going to embarrass him completely.

“With who?” was predictably Leia's first question. 

Ben swallowed hard. “My date is with Rey.”

“Our waitress?”

“Yes.”

Leia grinned at him. “She's gorgeous.”

“I know.”

“You two would make beautiful babies together.”

Ben groaned and buried his head in his hands while Padmé clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Leia, honestly.”

“What, Mom?” Leia asked, reaching for her tea. “It was just an observation.”

“Let's let them go on a few dates before you begin to address the idea of grandchildren.”

“How about we don't address that subject at all?” Ben asked, and all he got was a look from both of them. “I'm being serious. She's not going to like me. I'm too weird for that.”

“You're not weird, Ben,” Leia said firmly. “You just like books more than people.”

“Which is weird,” Ben stressed. “I realized the other day how much I've shut myself off from social interactions and wondered why. And, well, I know the answer to that, and I know that everyone else in the family hates that answer, but I don't know how to move beyond it.”

“You'll meet the right person and then you will,” Padmé said softly. “I know that you don't want to get hurt, darling, but that's part of love. You take that risk.”

“That's what everyone keeps telling me. I am just terrified of that.”

“You've got to push through that, sweetheart,” Leia said seriously. “I do not want you to end up all alone. It really bothers me that you already are and have been for so long.”

“No, it bothers you that you don't have any grandchildren,” was out of Ben's mouth before he could stop it, and he instantly regretted it. “Fuck.”

“Do I wish I had a grandchild to dote upon? Yes, I do,” Leia confirmed. “But you know what a grandchild would mean? It would mean that you're not alone. I know that you are scared of what happened with Luke and Mara happening with you, but you have got to take that risk. You've got to.”

“Why aren't you lecturing Luke about being alone, hm?” Ben snapped, and he immediately felt horrible about that too. “Fuck.”

“Luke is dealing with his grief the only way he knows how to,” Padmé said. “He fully acknowledges that Mara would have wanted him to move on. He just can't bring himself to do so.”

“So it's perfectly okay for him to be alone? That's rather hypocritical of you,” Ben said, and he wished he hadn't said that either. “Fuck.”

“Luke had a love like we want you to find,” Leia said softly. “Yes, he lost it and now he's alone, but he had it. He knew how special it was. We just want you to experience that for yourself. And I know how much losing Mara hurt you too, but Ben, you've got to move on from that pain and find some happiness.”

“Would anyone like any more coffee?” came Rey's voice, and Ben about jumped out of his skin. “Sorry, Ben. Didn't mean to startle you.”

“It's fine,” Ben got out before reaching for his coffee and taking a very long sip. “And yes, I would like some more.”

Rey smiled at him as she reached for his cup. “It was nice talking to you last night after work. Though, I must admit, talking to you kept me from finishing the book.”

Ben could feel two pairs of eyes on him, but he didn't care. He could do this kind of interaction with Rey. “Well, like I've said before, books wait for you, not the other way around. Just finish it when you've got the time to do so.”

“I'm going to try to do it tonight,” Rey said, smiling at him. “But I wouldn't mind talking to you again either.”

Ben smiled back. “I'd like that a lot. Talking to you will be better than reading the batch of essays I'll be collecting this afternoon.”

“Expecting them to be that bad, huh?”

“Oh yeah. There is no way that any of them have written a coherent essay. Not after the way this semester has been going.”

“Then I'll try to cheer you up when I get off work,” Rey said, looking up at the sound of her name. “Your food should be out in a few minutes.”

Rey walked away and Ben reached for his cup, taking another very long sip to try to avoid the conversation he knew was coming. 

“You really are going on a date, aren't you?” Leia asked, and Ben could hear the excitement rising with every word. “Oh, Ben, this is wonderful.”

“Did you think that I was lying to you?”

“Not really, but you have told me that you're going on a date before just to stop me from talking about it for a while,” Leia said, smiling at him. “I'm thrilled for you, sweetheart. Really, I am.”

“As am I,” Padmé said. “And you're talking to her about books, I see.”

“She doesn't know much about the literature of her homeland so I've been suggesting books for her to read,” Ben said, twirling his cup around in his hands. “It's not that big of a deal.”

“Yes, it is,” the two women said at the same time, making Ben sigh.

“Is it too much to ask that the two of you politely stay out of this?”

“Given how long it's been since you've been on a date, I'd think you'd want our help, not reject it,” Padmé said. 

“Yes, you should be asking us for advice,” Leia added. “Where are you taking her?”

“I have no idea,” Ben said honestly. “I only ever eat here so I know nothing about anywhere else in town that is acceptable for this.”

“And what, might I ask, qualifies as acceptable?”

“Somewhere far away from the university,” Ben said seriously. “I am not going to run into one of my students on this date, be they there for dinner or to serve it.”

“Hm,” Leia pondered. “Price range?”

“Excuse me?”

“Leia, that shouldn't be a factor on a first date,” Padmé said. “He needs to take her somewhere nice no matter what it costs.”

“Good point, Mom,” Leia said. “Hm.”

“There is that steakhouse not far from the law office,” Padmé said.

“That's not a good place for a first date. Entirely too noisy.” Leia thought about some more. “Han and I go to Corellia a lot. That's a great place to take a date.”

“Corellia?” Ben asked. “What is Corellia?”

“This little Italian restaurant near Luke's apartment,” Leia explained. “I think that would be a wonderful place to take her for a first date.”

“And this isn't super expensive, right? Because no matter what you say, Grandma, that is something I have to consider.”

“Oh, Ben, you need to make a good impression regardless of how much it costs you,” Padmé said, shaking her head.

“I agree with Mom,” Leia continued, “but no, it's not super expensive. It's not much more expensive than here.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Then I guess we're going to Corellia.”

Leia grinned at him. “Call and make a reservation. It fills up pretty quickly on Friday nights.”

“I'm going to have to look up the phone number,” Ben started, but Leia had her phone out of her purse in a flash.

“I'll do it for you then.”

“Mama,” Ben started, but Leia was already connecting the call.

Ben picked up his cup and took four really long sips from it while he listened to Leia make the dinner reservation, and all he could think about was how he had gotten himself into a situation that he'd never be able to extricate himself from. He'd always known that a girl would mess up his life, and now he was going to find out exactly how much.

Rey was worth it though. Ben just knew that.

By the time that Leia was hanging up the phone, Rey was setting plates down on the table. “Does that look okay with everyone?”

Leia gave Ben a look, and he took that to mean that he was supposed to tell Rey where they were going on their date. “Rey, does Corellia sound okay for dinner on Friday?”

Rey broke out into a brilliant smile that might have made Ben's world better. “That sounds great, Ben. I can't wait.”

“Neither can I,” Ben said, and that smile was back on his face again. He was starting to realize how involuntarily it came whenever Rey was around. “Is Rose mad that Poe gave you the day off?”

“She's so excited about this date that I don't think that's even crossed her mind,” Rey said, laughing. “Enjoy your food, okay? I'll be back to check on you soon.”

Leia and Padmé were beaming at him when Rey walked away, and Ben focused his attention on his plate. “Can we please talk about something else now?”

“You honestly think that's going to happen? My baby boy has a date,” Leia said, and Ben groaned.

“Please?”

“Let's talk about something else, Leia. Besides, we didn't come here to talk about Ben and his date.”

Leia sighed dramatically. “Fine. But I reserve the right to revisit this subject at any time.”

“That's fine, dear,” Padmé said before Ben could say no. “It's a good thing that you came in, Ben. We were going to have to call you anyway.”

“Call me about what?”

“About your grandfather's birthday party,” Leia said. “He is going to be eighty and so this party has to be a big one.”

Ben hated the thought of a large party the moment he heard it, but he forced a smile onto his face as he unrolled his silverware from his napkin. “Then I can't wait to hear all about it.”


End file.
